Fraudulent charges?!

[NoFlinch]

... but you look like a fool and feel like a idiot when your at a store and your card doesn't work.

CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY!!!

I look and feel like that always/anywhere

 

[etrain16]

I definitely prefer a credit card to a debit card - if I get a fraudulent charge on the credit card, it's the bank that's on the line, not my personal money. That said, I did have a fraudulent charge on a debit card with an online purchase. Turns out the company I purchased from went out of business the day after I made the purchase. I did get my money back from the credit union - I seem to recall it took about 2 weeks.

I also had a fraudulent charge on a company Visa, apparently skimmed at a gas station several weeks prior. Once I saw the charges on my monthly statement, we contacted the bank, filled out some forms, and that was it for us - the company wasn't on the hook for anything.

I think it's tough at times not to have at least one credit card on hand for certain types of purchases. We pay ours off every month, so we have no added costs for carrying it (no interest charges). It's very convenient since we tend not to carry much cash with us.

I was chatting last night with a buddy in the IT world (in the financial industry). He was talking about the security of Apple Pay on the iPhone. While it's still new, he says it's actually one of the safest ways to pay. All of your information is encrypted on the phone and for each transaction, a unique 'card number' is generated for that purchase only. If someone were to try and charge again to that number, it would fail to work. While I'm not quite ready to adopt this myself, I'm definitely going to be keeping my eyes on it.

You should get your money back from the bank, that should be part of your cardholder agreement. Sorry it happened though.

 

[The Heretic]

My CU always let me know weeks ahead of time that they were going to issue me a new card, so it wasn't a surprise when my old card didn't work thereafter.

As for Apply Pay, I don't own an iPhone and I really really doubt Apple will ever make it available on an Android phone (yes, I know about Google Wallet and others).

Also, while I like some of the features, I don't want my primary way of paying for something tied to a battery operated device. Maybe in the future when phone batteries last for weeks to months.

I do like the idea of a different secure card for each transaction. There is no reason the card companies couldn't do this - they used to offer this as a feature, some still do; you go online and get the card # from your card supplier, fill in the amount and how long you want it to be good for, and then you have a number to give somebody and it is only good for that amount and time period. There is really no reason a card supplier could not do this on the backend automatically for card swipes if they made the card intelligent enough.

From what I understand, the cards in Europe are much more intelligent than here, the card suppliers here would just rather put up with fraud than pay to make their whole system more intelligent and secure.

 

[Member 5605]

European cards have the chip which added to other security measures..


Well our country is out of date on card technology. Way out of date.

 

[CoastRange57]

This happens more than you think.

I had this happen to both a personal card I have and also a work card. They usually start small with the purchases and go from there. Both times there were about 400 charged in total. And if I remember correctly there was this store???? Oh yeah Walmart go figure....

After talking to my CC company I was told this is very common they just run numbers until one works and then go spend....

They just set up simple programs that run numbers and then run those numbers against sites where they can test a low dollar purchase, typically a porn site where you can "subscribe" for $ 1.99. They do that about 2 or 3 times and then go for a $ 300 to $ 400 purchase, and the next one will be $ 3,000.

Our business account got hit that way in the course of about 3.5 hours. Our controller ( my wife) caught it at the $ 300 level, called the bank and told them to get this stopped. They hemmed and hawed a bit, and were completely unprepared to deal with it. These were debit cards, but the bank gave us zero shot about that versus credit cards. They cancelled the cards and had to reissue new cards, and restored the money lost to our account. They hit the new cards with in 3 days of being reissued. We dumped that bank at that point, and went to a new bank after I extensively interviewed their IT guy about this.

Our standard procedure became to check the bank balances and activity online every 1.5 hours during the day and at least every 4 hours on weekends.

I still check the balance and activity on our bank accounts and one credit card in the morning, at lunch time and at the end of the day every day. You are responsible for your own financial security, not some geek as@ IT punk in a building somewhere.

 

[CoastRange57]

European cards have the chip which added to other security measures..


Well our country is out of date on card technology. Way out of date.

We can add agricultural technology, construction technology, mass transit technology, facilities and maintenance technology, among a few others that the Europeans are light years ahead of the US in as well.

 

[clearconscience]

My wife had this happen we were in kentucky and she got a call saying her card was used in alabama or somewhere.
It's too easy these days.

I work at a place where people get their stuff stolen all the time, purses, wallets, etc and within a couple hours their accts or cards have 1000s in charges.
With cameras all of these days it's hard to believe people get away with these things so often. But nobody checks IDs at point of sale, and with online sales it's too easy.
I do all my banking, bill pay online and it's almost safer these days.
Maybe I'm just too broke to steal from.

Good reason to take all that extra money and buy ammo!

 

[The Heretic]

Conversely, Vesta, the company that processes payments for many cell phone companies, always seems to kick back at me whenever I try something new.

For example, when I first went to TMobile and tried to buy a prepaid Motorola Razor (a decade or so ago IIRC) they simply wouldn't accept any of my credit cards. TMobile was clueless (I understand why now - they don't handle those transactions, Vesta does). They said to go to their store and buy the phone - their stores didn't sell prepaid phones and told me to use their customer service phone, where I got the same run around again - I tried two different CC cards and both were rejected.

While I was talking to TMobile on the customer service phone, I get a call from my CC co. on my cell phone that my CC was flagged for fraud by Vesta/TMobile. While I was talking to them, another call comes from my other CC co., saying the same thing.

I finally bought it through Amazon who would accept my credit card, but then getting it activated was a hassle again. I had to get customer service on the phone and almost sign away my first born to get them to accept my credit card.

Earlier this year, I was going to buy another block of minutes and decided to use my CC instead of my debit card. Again, denied. After several tries I went back to my debit card and they accepted that after many retries. I was about to give up on them altogether but the charge finally came through.

SHEESH!

I don't know what it is, but there is something about the algorithms that Vesta uses that just doesn't like any of my credit cards.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I was chatting last night with a buddy in the IT world (in the financial industry). He was talking about the security of Apple Pay on the iPhone. While it's still new, he says it's actually one of the safest ways to pay. All of your information is encrypted on the phone and for each transaction, a unique 'card number' is generated for that purchase only. If someone were to try and charge again to that number, it would fail to work. While I'm not quite ready to adopt this myself, I'm definitely going to be keeping my eyes on it.

I use Apple Pay whenever possible. The one time transaction code is absolutely foolproof, and the fingerprint ID is very convenient. I just bring up Passbook on the iPhone, select the card I want to use, hold the phone close to the terminal, and put my finger on the home button. The clerks are usually surprised when the register spits out an unexpected receipt, and want to know what happened. Transaction codes can't be reused, credit/debit card information is never transmitted, and your phone is inaccessible to anyone who doesn't have your fingerprints. The Apple fingerprint ID reads your prints in 3D infrared, so even a cut off finger wouldn't work. Recent claims to have cracked the fingerprint reader with a photo of a fingerprint are probably bogus. The technology doesn't work that way.

 

[mjbskwim]

NOT SAFE FOR ZA unless he's calm lol

 

[Lilhigbee]

Absolutely NO debit card for me!! When something like this happens you are at the mercy of the bank. With a credit card, ultimately YOU decide whether to pay it or not. On my credit cards I have had two fraud charges of less than $6 each and one "misunderstanding" with a company I was really doing business with and all three were refunded after writing a simple letter to the CC company.
My bank has changed hands three times (Columbia Gorge to First Independent to Sterling to Umpqua) and each time a get an ATM/ debit card automatically sent to me. I have to go the bank, give it back, and tell them "No, I want an ATM card only" and they figure out how to get me one. The only way the ATM-only card can get used is if I lose it, and that's my lookout not theirs.
I have to laugh every time someone refers to some new system that is difficult/impossible to hack. BS!! There isn't any electronic communication that someone, sometime can't violate if they choose.

 

[deen_ad]

< Why they don't have school shootings in Israel.
Notice the long gun slung over the teachers shoulder?

European cards have the chip which added to other security measures..

Well our country is out of date on card technology. Way out of date.

My new (about three months ago) Amex card has the chip in it and the readers at Wal*Mart are equipped to read it.


Deen
NRA Life Member, Benefactor Level
"Defender of Freedom" award
NRA Golden Eagle member
WAC member
Vancouver Rifle and Pistol Club member

"Having a gun is like a parachute, if you need one and don't have it you may never need it again"

 

[forefathersrback]

ZA, thank you very much for your thread. Members posting on their experiences, thank you too. Warning taken. Our debit accounts will be closed Monday. Operating from major credit cards only for now on.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

Yep, have had several credit cards compromised. I suspect at least once it was a skimmer used by a waiter at a north Seattle restaurant.

That's why I only use the debit at stores I know such as Fred Meyer. The CC gives you a layer of protection.

 

[BAMCIS]

NOT SAFE FOR ZA unless he's calm lol

Excellent post. Glad to see the time I spent on the internet tonight wasn't a complete waste. Thanks.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Yeah, they got me too. A few years ago. Probably about due!

 

[NoFlinch]

My debit card has never been hacked.

I guess that's because I've never used it.......................

I'm tellin' ya folks................until technology improves, never use a debit card............

Quit being so lazy, & Plan Ahead.........

Do what Dave Ramsey recommends; "Be weird, pay with cash".

 

[CoastRange57]

Do what Dave Ramsey recommends; "Be weird, pay with cash".

Pretty sure that Dave also says to use your debit card as well when you need to. I have not had credit cards in over 25 years. There are times you need to use a debit card. If you have the proper financial institution, and the right monitoring, you should have no problems. When I rent a car, they do charge the account right away for 125% of the charge, and then credit it back when complete. No problem for me.

My financial institutions provides a text notification any time my cards are used. I check them several times a day. In the past I have found a scouting hack and notified them right away, and it was taken care of.

 

[IronMonster]

Cash is not an option for me. I have spent $60,000 in the last two months (it was a busy end of year for my shop) I dont know how many individual transactions but at least a hundred or a couple a day. There is simply no practical way to deal in cash. Credit cards and debit cards make my life easier and I have yet to not have the bank make me whole. Of course the fact that I have a few hundred grand goes through my account over the course of a year probably gives me some leverage with the bank. That is the thing about owning a small business. I dont make any money, and I mean that. At the end of the year I am lucky if I made minimum wage. But the company paid for pretty much everything I did and there is all kinds of perks to having cash flow. Even if at the end of the day the money is just flowing through you and none of its yours.

If you have a life where you can deal in cash, Then great. Im all for that. But in today's world its a pretty hard thing to do and it will only get worse and worse. And cash is not without its problems. If you have much of it you have to do something with it and that's not with out risk. A friend of mine's dad was retired and driving around the country in a motor home. He did not trust the bank so they bought a pretty good safe and put it at my buddies, his son's house. Thieves got it. $55,000 in cash. About half of what the guy had to live on for the rest of his life. He was about 70 and pretty crippled up. No chance of him just going out and making more. I dont think cash was his best choice.

 

[etrain16]

Many of our transactions can't be done with cash. We pay almost all of our bills online, we make many purchases online too. We have a nice rewards card with our bank - it's no cost to us and we pay it off every month, so we never pay interest charges. With that, we have the buyer/fraud protection from the bank and also have a nice record each month of what we've spent, all in one place. At the end of each year, we collect our rewards as a cash payment, and when you make all your purchases on that card, it adds up to a nice return.

I agree with the sentiment to pay cash, but in many cases, it's simply not practical for us. I consider paying the way we do, the same as dealing in cash. But the first time you miss a payment and that interest hits you, you loose any benefits. To do it the way we do, you have to be organized and committed to the process. My wife is very good at overseeing these things. We've been doing it this way for years, I can't even remember the last time we had a balance on a card. It really makes managing our day to day purchases much easier. The only real problem for us now is the growing number of gas stations that are charging more if you pay with a card, in those cases, we do try to pay cash.

I agree about the debit cards.